Characterization of Swept Synthetic High Quality Quartz Crystal

Abstract

The synthetic quartz crystal is widely utilized in electronic and optical components due to its high frequency and temperature stability, good dielectric properties, low thermal coefficient of linear expansion, and wide range of optical transparency. However, radiation effects due to cosmic rays are responsible for a frequency shift for quartz oscillators in space systems, which impair their performance. Sweeping quartz at high electric field is a well-established method for improving device performance in a radiation environment. The present paper focuses on the voltage current characteristic of swept quartz. First, the sweeping conduction mechanism is ionic conduction. Second, as the voltage increases, the current increases first, then decreases, and then increases. ICP-AES results indicated that the sweeping process make Na+ a oriented locomotion. Third, the etch channel tensity is obviously reduced to less than 3/cm3, which is a very promising result for space applications. Moreover, the radiation resistance properties are improved after electrical sweeping.